Serum vitamin E and the sickling status in children with sickle cell anaemia.
Serum vitamin E levels were determined on 62 children with sickle cell anaemia and 35 age-matched controls. Among the sicklers, the irreversibly sickled cell counts were done and correlated with serum vitamin E levels. There was a significant difference in serum vitamin E values (P less than 0.001), the sickle cell anaemia patients showing a deficiency with 27% of them deficient as against 2.9% of controls. The vitamin E deficient sicklers were also found to have significantly higher irreversibly sickled counts (P less than 0.02), indicating that vitamin E is an important inhibitor of the irreversibly sickled cell formation.
Ndombi
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Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi.
Kinoti
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D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D006801:Humans; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*; D014811:Vitamin E Deficiency / Q000097:blood
D014810:Vitamin E